Electronic document signature services facilitate various electronic document signing processes. For example, an individual in Atlanta, Ga. can create an electronic document and use an electronic document signature service to send the electronic document to an individual in San Jose, Calif. for signature. The individual in San Jose receives the electronic document and uses the electronic document signature service to sign the document, for example, by filling out one or more fields and/or adding an electronic signature. The electronic document, including information about the users involved, is stored to create a record of the signing process and make the electronic document available for later use. The electronic document is typically initially stored on a server when the sender initiates the signing process. The electronic document is provided from the server to the signers for completion and information that is received from the signers is sent back to the server. For example, when a signer completes fields and adds a signature to an electronic document, that information is sent for storage at the server as part of the electronic document.
Existing electronic document signature services are unable to ensure that electronic documents and associated user information is stored on servers within particular geographic boundaries, i.e., within particular countries, states, cites, etc. Data storage requirements provided by users, governments, and other sources frequently require that electronic documents and information about the users involved in the electronic document signing process be stored within particular geographic boundaries. Existing services cannot ensure that electronic documents and information is stored within such geographic boundaries because the geographic locations of the servers used by the services are often unknown, not known with sufficient precision, not known with sufficient certainty, and change over time. Similarly, existing electronic document signature services are unable to ensure that the electronic documents are sent via electronic communications within particular geographic boundaries. For example, the services cannot ensure that an electronic document is not sent outside of the European Union while in route from a sender in France to a server in Germany.
In addition, existing electronic document signature services generally do not ensure the use of servers that perform well in terms of efficient communications, response times, bandwidth, and available storage. For example, if the sender is in the United States and the signing process involves ten signers who are all in Germany, existing services may store the electronic document in the United States. However, this will very likely be inefficient since most of the electronic communications will be between the signers in Germany and the server in the United States. Storing the electronic document in Germany rather than the United States could improve the efficiency of electronic communications involved in the signing process and subsequent accesses of the electronic document by the signers.
Existing electronic document signature services also do not adequately respond to network issues and other changed circumstances by moving electronic documents to different servers. For example, a new server may be required based on a network issue, such as server maintenance or a server outage. Existing techniques generally interrupt and cancel a signing process in response to such an issue. In another example, a new server may be required or desired when new information becomes known about a user. For example, based on a signer identifying his geographic location during the signing process, using a different server than the current server may be desirable or required. Using a new server may improve performance by reducing the wait times of the sender and signer in electronic communications to receive and update the electronic document. Similarly, using the new server may ensure compliance with a data storage requirement that requires storing the electronic documents within particular geographic boundaries. Existing techniques do not migrate electronic documents in response to such circumstances within particular geographic boundaries.